Cool stuff you had as a kid, first car..etc.
- Thread starter Victorbmyboy
- Start date
I had a leather official ABA basketball that I didn't have sense enough to keep as a collector's item. Instead, I wore it to death.
Grandparents and a bunch of great uncles and aunts who were born before the First World War.
They’re all dead now.
Aurora HO slot car set, expanded upon over a few years.
My dad's Micky Mantle signed baseball. My brother and I took it outside and played catch with it, left it out in the rain and it got ruined. I'm still mystified my dad didn't beat our ass for that.
1976 IU National Title commemorative medal. During the 1992 Final Four game, I got so pissed off I threw it and it embedded in our living room drywall. It remained there for quite some time. I wish I had that, for sure.
When I was in middle school I got a bedroom sized plastic pop a shot...it very quickly broke, and got turned in to a very nice nerf style hoop that I ducktaped to my wall. I also duck taped lane lines and 3 point lines in my carpet. That obviously ruined both the drywall, and the carpet...but ehhh. I would estimate well over 1000 hours, hundreds of mock NCAA tournament battles, etc... played on that hoop. Parents house got renovated, all of it tossed out.
Things I didn't get, that I would have considered committing crimes for...
When I was about 8 years old, I saw a bed in a catalog that looked like a Crayola Crayon. Not the ones that had crayons as the 4 posts...it was a big crayon, "hollowed out", with the bed inside it. I don't think there's been anything in my life that I wanted more than that bed. Never happened. Still bitter.
And then a Honda Spree scooter when I was 14/15. My little brother got one, I didn't. Still bitter.
1976 IU National Title commemorative medal. During the 1992 Final Four game, I got so pissed off I threw it and it embedded in our living room drywall. It remained there for quite some time. I wish I had that, for sure.
When I was in middle school I got a bedroom sized plastic pop a shot...it very quickly broke, and got turned in to a very nice nerf style hoop that I ducktaped to my wall. I also duck taped lane lines and 3 point lines in my carpet. That obviously ruined both the drywall, and the carpet...but ehhh. I would estimate well over 1000 hours, hundreds of mock NCAA tournament battles, etc... played on that hoop. Parents house got renovated, all of it tossed out.
Things I didn't get, that I would have considered committing crimes for...
When I was about 8 years old, I saw a bed in a catalog that looked like a Crayola Crayon. Not the ones that had crayons as the 4 posts...it was a big crayon, "hollowed out", with the bed inside it. I don't think there's been anything in my life that I wanted more than that bed. Never happened. Still bitter.
And then a Honda Spree scooter when I was 14/15. My little brother got one, I didn't. Still bitter.
I had an old tyco semi truck set. Long gone. Various stompers. Wish I still had my dirt bikes(z50r Honda)(Kawasaki KX. 80) so I could’ve given them to my son. I did give him 2 Redline BMX bikes. Wish I still had all my Adidas IU shoes. Had the forum and conductors from the 87 team. Ahhh to be 13 again.
I miss my first car, '65 VW Beetle. My mom got a new car and my parents told me I could have the car they bought new in 1965. i was 15 and spent a year working on the body, painting it, and buying VW off road white wheels. I painted it '79 Chevy truck blue metallic. I had watched my dad do bodywork and prep a few cars for paint. I did the work myself and had my dad's friend paint it in an empty warehouse.
My dad's high school friend had a VW and foreign car shop and junkyard.He sold me an engine his son used in a rail dune buggy. The final touch was an interior with Cadillac silver carpet, headliner and door panels. It was loud, quick, and drew a lot of attention. I have dreams that the car is in my garage and I drive it to work. Recently, someone posted on my hometown Facebook page asking if anyone remembered my car. He used to see it in town and liked it. I posted a picture of Gunther as it ran most of the time with nerf bars instead of bumpers. I sold it my sophomore year of college.
My dad's high school friend had a VW and foreign car shop and junkyard.He sold me an engine his son used in a rail dune buggy. The final touch was an interior with Cadillac silver carpet, headliner and door panels. It was loud, quick, and drew a lot of attention. I have dreams that the car is in my garage and I drive it to work. Recently, someone posted on my hometown Facebook page asking if anyone remembered my car. He used to see it in town and liked it. I posted a picture of Gunther as it ran most of the time with nerf bars instead of bumpers. I sold it my sophomore year of college.
my girlfriend back in the day had a 69 beetle. purple. Surprisingly roomy. LOL My first ride was a 72 Chevy Cheyenne. It was a nasty houndog den/ride. took it for a test drive with a coon dog standing on top of his dog box. I worked for two summers getting that truck nice. Red/White with black interior.
My first car a 1963 Triumph Spitfire 4 but traded it in for a 1966 Mustang that fit my idea of a muscle car better. Today I would want the Triumph Spitfire ragtop, oh well our choices early in life.
I wish I still had my first 2 motorcycles, a 75 Indian ME and a 74 Yamaha MX 100.
'67 red Camaro SS, with a black hard top. Not very roomy, but fun to drive
I had a great dad. It was dad that inspired me to go in the engineering career path. He was always building or restoring something. I was right beside him watching and asking a million questions. We built canoes, installed our own central A/C system, built muzzle loaders from kits, made homemade wine in a huge glass pickle jar (I learned how to siphon wine out of the jar into individual bottles!), purple martin houses. and always had a project we would work on. I helped him build a basketball court for my 12th birthday.
I stayed on the ground while he would pilot a glider. I wasn't nervous because dad could do anything he set his mind to (I assume mom didn't allow me to go in the air with him). One of the last things we did together was to get his '63 Impala running after sitting due to mom's illness. We sold it to a guy in St. Louis. It had been my grandma's car and in the family since '63. It was the first car he let someone else restore. It was beautiful! I was with him when they loaded it on a trailer. We weren't sad. It troubled dad that he could not work on it and it wasn't easy for him to drive anymore.
Dad was an excellent sailboat racer. He would take me along as his "crew". to regattas at Ky Lake and Carlisle Lake in Illinois. He decided I was old enough and had learned enough to sail my own boat. He converted our trailer so we could take two boats on one trailer. Another winter project we did together.
My pinewood derby cars were fast, beautiful and the best engineered cars every year. Dad and I came up with many ideas that allowed me to win 2 out of the 3 years I was in Cub Scouts. Other dads tried to find out why my cars were so fast. The biggest secret was the placement of the lead 45 caliber musket balls as far forward as we could get them. Shaving the wheels down helped a lot too.
I miss dad a lot. A lot! I remember our last project a few months before he passed. He gave me the most important thing a dad can give his son. Time! Best teacher I ever had!
I stayed on the ground while he would pilot a glider. I wasn't nervous because dad could do anything he set his mind to (I assume mom didn't allow me to go in the air with him). One of the last things we did together was to get his '63 Impala running after sitting due to mom's illness. We sold it to a guy in St. Louis. It had been my grandma's car and in the family since '63. It was the first car he let someone else restore. It was beautiful! I was with him when they loaded it on a trailer. We weren't sad. It troubled dad that he could not work on it and it wasn't easy for him to drive anymore.
Dad was an excellent sailboat racer. He would take me along as his "crew". to regattas at Ky Lake and Carlisle Lake in Illinois. He decided I was old enough and had learned enough to sail my own boat. He converted our trailer so we could take two boats on one trailer. Another winter project we did together.
My pinewood derby cars were fast, beautiful and the best engineered cars every year. Dad and I came up with many ideas that allowed me to win 2 out of the 3 years I was in Cub Scouts. Other dads tried to find out why my cars were so fast. The biggest secret was the placement of the lead 45 caliber musket balls as far forward as we could get them. Shaving the wheels down helped a lot too.
I miss dad a lot. A lot! I remember our last project a few months before he passed. He gave me the most important thing a dad can give his son. Time! Best teacher I ever had!
My first call was an 82 Plymouth horizon. Decidedly not cool. But I did enjoy the part where no one cared how well I cared for it. Mom and Dad eventually sold it for $50. $50!
Yeah, that was the Chrysler equivalent of the Chevy Chevette. We towed a buddy's "vette" to the junk yard for about that same amount of money and then used most of it to buy beer for the car's funeral party.
My first car was a 65 mustang.
I've wanted it back forever.
We had a spitfire when I was a kid. Real neat. Always in the shop. Steering wheel was brutal to turn. But boy it was fun when it ran.
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